‘The public prayers for His Majesty’s health, wealth, and well-being, and also for the development of his additional intellectual capacities should be held no less than three times a day in all public squares, government offices, courthouses, and the places of worship, and also in all the private and public toilets, with the benefit of generating the taxable and multiple extra-flushes.’

But all jesting aside, many in the world hold their breath in audible silence at the thought of President Trump conferencing with Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran, or Tsai Ing-wen on China.

Many have spoken of Mr. Trump’s openly fascistic tendencies. Some see him as developing an distinctively American form of fascism. And it has also been said that under Mr. Trump, the locus of decision will shift from the halls of institutions of power onto the streets.

Wherever the truth lies, I suspect that it to resonate with many to read that history caught up the United States of America. We are going to pay for our sins, and the price may be horrific.

Decades of assaults on jobs, wages and benefits stand to be intensified greatly. And despite near universal surveillance and increasing reliance on the threat and use of force to quell dissent, it is very possible that there may be seen mass social conflict of such proportions that make the 1930 protests look like church picnics. There is a settling sense that the state is irreparably broken and that no future election will fix it.

Extremism is on the rise in the United States. And more than they would admit, Christian fundamentalism is the incubator of political extremism. Whatever lies before us, that lesson must not be forgotten.